Ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the Treaty between Poland and Germany

On 17 June 2026, a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany was held at the German Consulate General in Kraków. The event was combined with a farewell reception to mark the end of the diplomatic mission in Kraków of the German Consul General, Holger Mahnicke. Agata Wąsowska-Pawlik, Director of the International Cultural Centre, also attended.

On the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany, celebrations were held to highlight the importance of this agreement and the good cooperation between the two countries. The Senate adopted a resolution in which it declared that the Treaty, signed on 17 June 1991 in Bonn, “became one of the foundations of the new order in Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain”. The agreement confirmed at the time the desire for peaceful coexistence, respect for borders and the protection of national minorities – Poles in Germany and Germans in Poland.

The celebrations, which were also attended by the director of the International Cultural Centre, were combined with a farewell ceremony for the German Consul General, Holger Mahnicke, who is concluding his diplomatic mission in Kraków. He had headed the mission in our city since July 2023. Over the years, he was a frequent guest at the International Cultural Centre, always showing openness to dialogue and cooperation with our institution. Meetings with the Consul provided an opportunity for an inspiring exchange of experiences, discussions about joint projects and the strengthening of ties between Poland and Germany.

The International Cultural Centre has been collaborating with German institutions for years. In recent years, the ICC Gallery has presented a series of exhibitions introducing German culture and art to the Polish public. These included “Unwanted Capital: Architecture and Urban Planning in Kraków During the German Occupation, 1939–1945” (2022), “More than Bauhaus. German photography between the wars and Polish parallels” (2021), “Max Ernst: An Ornithologist’s Dreams” (2016), and “GDR. Stories from a vanished country” (2012). Together with the German Consulate General, we also organized a lecture by Nora Ebneth: “Chopin in the Third Reich – Idealized, Appropriated, Banned”.